In Home Child care...Where do I start?

I'm from the Nov 2010 board and am new to this one. I am a SAHM FTM with my 7 month old DD and like most of you, I'm sure, money is tight now that we are on one income. I was thinking of starting to watch another child in my house during the day but I have NO idea where to begin. How much would I charge...do I need a license...what are the risks...would I need to write up a contract...etc. I've tried finding information online but haven't had any luck yet. I just want to watch one child 3 months or up for about 5-6 hours a day. If anyone has any experience with this could you please give me some pointers on how to get started? Thanks so much!

Hi Ladies,

I'm from the Nov 2010 board and am new to this one. I am a SAHM FTM with my 7 month old DD and like most of you, I'm sure, money is tight now that we are on one income. I was thinking of starting to watch another child in my house during the day but I have NO idea where to begin. How much would I charge...do I need a license...what are the risks...would I need to write up a contract...etc. I've tried finding information online but haven't had any luck yet. I just want to watch one child 3 months or up for about 5-6 hours a day. If anyone has any experience with this could you please give me some pointers on how to get started? Thanks so much!

The laws in your area probably differ from other areas. I know that some places only require a license if you are to watch for more than one family at a time. If you can legally watch without a license, make sure that you check the "going rates" in your area for licensed care and then charge less than that. When I was watching kids, (I was never licensed) I would charge $25 a day for the first child and $15 each for each additional child and I requested that anything the children required that were extras (i.e. diapers, wipes, formula) were provided or I would charge an additional fee. The "going rate" here at the time was between $35 and $60 a day.

The laws in your area probably differ from other areas. I know that some places only require a license if you are to watch for more than one family at a time. If you can legally watch without a license, make sure that you check the "going rates" in your area for licensed care and then charge less than that. When I was watching kids, (I was never licensed) I would charge $25 a day for the first child and $15 each for each additional child and I requested that anything the children required that were extras (i.e. diapers, wipes, formula) were provided or I would charge an additional fee. The "going rate" here at the time was between $35 and $60 a day.

you really need to check into the laws where you live. I would suggest calling your homeowners insurance or renters insurance people. Some policies allow coverage at no extra fee and some have some penalties if you are accidently not in compliance with the law. In my County it took 3 months to get someone out to check me after applying for my license. My insurance said if I wasn't licensed and something happened-they wouldn't cover it. 1 accident and we could have lost everything. BTW I did have my neighbors little girl over that year for a play date...and she broke her arm in our house. I did nothing wrong and my child did nothing wrong...because we were covered they took care of everything for my neighbor who had to have her daughter see a specialist. She rolled her elboe and broke the growth plate. I freaked because she didn't fall or anything. No bruise no cut etc.I can not imagine doing that all on our expense.

you really need to check into the laws where you live. I would suggest calling your homeowners insurance or renters insurance people. Some policies allow coverage at no extra fee and some have some penalties if you are accidently not in compliance with the law. In my County it took 3 months to get someone out to check me after applying for my license. My insurance said if I wasn't licensed and something happened-they wouldn't cover it. 1 accident and we could have lost everything. BTW I did have my neighbors little girl over that year for a play date...and she broke her arm in our house. I did nothing wrong and my child did nothing wrong...because we were covered they took care of everything for my neighbor who had to have her daughter see a specialist. She rolled her elboe and broke the growth plate. I freaked because she didn't fall or anything. No bruise no cut etc.I can not imagine doing that all on our expense.

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